At Least 32 Miners In The DRC Have Been Killed At A Copper And Cobalt Mine After A Bridge Collapsed
It is later confirmed that most of those killed were unauthorized artisanal miners.
At least 32 people were killed when a bridge collapsed at an unofficial mining site in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Kalando mine in the Mulondo area of Lualaba province had been closed by officials days earlier because of heavy rains and the risk of landslides, but hundreds of miners entered anyway on Nov. 15 to dig for cobalt and copper, which are two of the minerals powering the global battery and electric car industries.
The DRC produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt, and about 15 to 30% of the country’s cobalt comes from informal artisanal mines where safety equipment is rare and accidents are common.
Officials and the government artisanal mining agency SAEMAPE say soldiers fired warning shots to disperse the crowd, triggering panic and a rush onto the overcrowded bridge, which then collapsed.
Witnesses told the media that victims ended up piled on one another.
Authorities said at least 32 miners died, but local groups say the real number of deaths could be higher, with some miners still missing.
Government officials confirmed the death toll and said most of those killed were artisanal miners working without authorization.
Human rights groups said the collapse exposes the danger faced by people who rely on small-scale mining for survival, earning only a few dollars a day while supplying minerals used in phones and electric vehicles sold for thousands.
Provincial authorities have suspended all mining at Kalando and launched an investigation.
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